I just think it's really wrong that we went ahead and approved this. ... I think that's a lot of money for the size of this city." -- Kim Jaquish

Patrick BurtchHandout photo

JACKSON, MI -- Patrick Burtch, then Jackson's interim city
manager, contacted Jackson City Council members last week to tell them
he was proposing a contract to become city manager on a permanent basis,
city officials said.

There
had been nothing on the City Council meeting agenda about approving the
contract with Burtch until the item was added shortly
after the meeting began.

"I didn't want to lose Patrick as a city
manager," Councilwoman Laura Dwyer Schlecte said after the meeting,
explaining her reason for the quick decision. "I think he's doing a
phenomenal job. I haven't been around long enough to know the typical
process."

She said Burtch's salary in his new position -- an
annual rate of $117,300 through July 1 and $124,500 beginning July 1 --
is a bargain because Burtch will continue to head the city's Department
of Neighborhood & Economic Operations under the terms of his contract.

Council members added the employment contract with Burtch to the meeting agenda after Dwyer Schlecte requested that they do so.

"Just for the record, I have not seen this
contract until right now," City Attorney Julius Giglio said during the meeting.

Not all council members wanted to move so fast.

Councilwoman Kim Jaquish said she wanted more time to decide, but her
motion to delay the vote failed by a 4-2 vote, with Councilman Derek
Dobies siding with her. The same two council members voted against the
contract. Mayor Martin Griffin and council members Dwyer Schlecte,
Andrew Frounfelker and Daniel Greer voted yes. Councilman Carl Breeding
was absent.

Jaquish said she wanted more information about the salary paid to managers of comparable cities.

Council members received a city manager wage survey from Crystal Dixon,
director of human resources, that included pay for city managers in
Troy, Farmington Hills, Auburn Hills, Wyoming, Birmingham, Madison
Heights, Southfield and Eastpointe.

"I would like more information on cities that have populations
closer to our own rather than some of the ones that are on here, because some of
the ones that are on here have populations two or three times our population," Jaquish said.

The
2010 Census says Jackson had a population of 33,534 -- similar to the
population of cities such as Madison Heights and Eastpointe, but less
than half the population of Farmington Hills, Troy, Wyoming and
Southfield.

"I just think it's really wrong that we went ahead
and approved this," Jaquish said. "And we're paying (Burtch) what Larry
(Shaffer) would have been paid had he stayed. I think that's a lot of
money for the size of this city."

Despite voting against the
contract, Dobies praised Burtch after the vote. "Happy to have
Patrick as the city manager. He's been
doing a great job so far and looking forward to working with him,"
Dobies said.

Griffin said Burtch has done good work as
interim city manager. "He's been doing the job and doing it well,"
Griffin said. "We've settled all the union contracts. There hasn't been a
hiccup. The city's run perfectly, at least as perfectly as possible."

"As far as I know, the council is not going to move to hire a deputy
manager," Burtch said following Tuesday's meeting. "I'm not proposing it. We're trying to save the
city money."

Dwyer Schlecte said Burtch has saved the city $300,000 by performing the duties of five positions -- city manager, deputy city manager, and head of public works, water and Neighborhood & Economic Operations.

She said the city could have spent $20,000 searching for a city manager, but that would not have made sense because Burtch was a finalist in the most-recent search that resulted in the hiring of Shaffer.

After some council members expressed dissatisfaction with Shaffer's leadership, Shaffer proposed a severance agreement that was reviewed by council members during a closed session at a City Council meeting. The issue was listed on the agenda as a personnel matter.

Council members returned from the closed session and approved the agreement with Shaffer without any discussion.